Rome – AFP
Two senior diplomats (American and Chinese) began talks, Monday, in Rome, in an atmosphere of tension, due to information published by the New York Times, that Russia has requested economic and military assistance from China to launch war in Ukraine and circumvent Western sanctions.
In private, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party’s top foreign affairs official.
And the US embassy in Rome said: “The meeting will not be followed by any press announcement.”
“The officials and their teams will discuss efforts to deal with the competition between the two countries, and the implications of Russia’s war with Ukraine on regional and global security,” said Emily Horne, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.
On Sunday, the New York Times quoted unnamed officials as saying that Russia had asked China to provide it with military equipment for war and economic aid to help it bypass international sanctions. Officials did not clarify the specific nature of the assistance required or whether China had responded.
Beijing reacted angrily to this information, but did not explicitly deny it.
“Recently, the United States has been constantly publishing misleading news regarding China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said when asked regarding the New York Times’ information.
Sullivan confirmed through several television stations, on Sunday, that the White House is closely watching to see if China is providing material or economic support to Russia, to help it mitigate the impact of sanctions.
He explained, “There will certainly be repercussions in the event of major moves aimed at circumventing the sanctions.”
Beijing said last week that its friendship with Russia is still strong despite the international condemnation of Moscow, and expressed its readiness to mediate that contributes to an end to the war.
